Although it is not perfect and there are some flaws that I will point out along the way, Apartment Life has added a fair bit to the build mode so there is more to add when creating new lots. Some of these are completely unique whereas some are elements that have been brought forward from previous expansions. This part of the review has been very difficult to write as there has been so much I feel is worth reporting on. Let's get straight into it.

Elevators ("Lifts" for us on this side of the pond) first appeared in Open For Business (OFB). These designs have been brought forward, but another one has been added, complete with various recolours. These also take up a 2x2 area and apart from being a rapid means of transport, they are also somewhere that your sims can woohoo. There is a small risk of the elevator plummetting and injuring the sim inside. However, I am yet to see such an accident kill a sim.

Spiral staircases is something that simmers have been crying out about for a long time. Now they are here. Although there have been custom-made spiral staircases available on one of the other fansites, this is the welcome appearance of official staircases. Taking up a 2x2 area, this really does cut down somewhat on space requirements in homes. In "The Sims" (1), spiral staircases first appeared in "Unleashed", which was the 5th expansion. I would have liked to seen these earlier in this series and not have to wait so long. Although two of them are "stackable", the Endless Winding Staircase, which is the cheapest set (§1,100) is only stackable with use of the "moveobjects on" cheat. Despite this disappointment which will hopefully be fixed in a patch, I do like the new staircases and appropriately matching ballustrades.

Ceilings is something those who enjoy telling stories or taking pictures from the game have been after for a long time. When I saw the first teaser screenshot from this expansion, it was what I was most pleased to see. For those who would still rather see the furniture on the floor upstairs, ceilings can be toggled on and off. For storytellers and avid picture takers, however, this is something we have wanted for a long time and I would reckon in almost all cases, ceilings will be toggled on rather than off. In order to get a better view, there is an extra "45 degree" viewing angle that allows you to look upwards and edit your ceilings. It is as simple as covering a floor, although that favourite shagpile carpet might not look so good up there as it does on the ground. As long as there is a floor above it, there is a ceiling below it. You can make the floors simple or if you have got just too much time on your hands, you can make them elaborate like I have in this picture here.

The Apartment Door, which is actually called "The Unique Separator" specifically indicates apartments and comes with its own doormat. Both the door and the doormat are recolourable and as long as the doormat is outside the apartment, you know you're doing it right. I am quite sure that the community will be creating a lot of custom recolours for this door and doormat in the near future.

I am also pleased with a measuring tool that allows you to calculate the dimensions and costs of walls, flooring and so forth that you are placing. This makes it a lot quicker than having to calculate things mentally. I have had many times I have been trying to build something and found one side is not the same dimensions to the other. This tool will hopefully help that become something of the past.

There are plenty of new doors, windows, awnings, halfwalls and fences with this expansion, though, and I am very pleased with the quality of them. They certainly add a lot to the game. However, in this category, I have been disappointed with just a few things.

As well as what may seem to be new windows and doors, there is a set of full-length ceiling-to-floor windows and doors that first appeared in OFB has been brought forward to AL for those who may not already have it. Very good they look too ... but there is a problem. Although the doors are recolourable, the windows only come in red and any existing windows that are not red and are used in existing lots in Belladonna Cove are designated as undesignable. As I have used these windows a fair bit in some of my neighborhoods, I am disappointed to find that I can have them in any colour as long as it is red. When I get a new EP, I like to find everything that is new and not to find old things that worked perfectly have been taken away.

In the "Bohemian" collection, which I will be looking at again later, is a set of four brick walls. However, three of these are completely identical to three of an eight wall set that came with Nightlife. In the picture on the right, one of these two redbrick walls is "Reinforced Brick" which came with Nightlife and the De Luxe Version of TS2. The other redbrick wall is "Stone Baby Brick from Boho Days". There is no point in my telling you which one is which as if you look at the bigger picture, you will see that they are exactly the same. Had they given us an edged wall set to add to the Bohemian Brick style that came with FT, then that would have been new and I would have nothing be critical about. Instead, for those of us who have FT, it now takes some effort to find Bohemian Brick thanks to another oversight. Instead, as we have been given a wall set that of which three of the four walls are repeated from an earlier issue, then no, I am very disappointed and find this to be lazy on the part of the developers.

So, although there is quite a bit that is new and does add to the game, shameless repetition and turning an existing window with four different colours now into one that is only in red tells me that this EP might have been rushed and does somewhat negatively affect my opinion on what was otherwise a very good job.